I did have a nasty reaction at the beginning of my 2nd cycle but they treated it and slowed the infusion. Then cycle 3 they had to increase my decadron and benadryl premed....ugh! but it did the trick and I didn't have anymore reactions.

This time around I am on a lower dose and will be going in for my day 8 taxol infusion on Friday which will be my second dose. First dose went well but I am anxious about this second dose so we will see how it goes.

They gave me more Benedryl and more steroid, but didn’t help. First chemo I had the reaction and they gave more benedryl and slowed the IV and I was fine. I’m super sensitive to meds, so I’m not surprised....but I feel defeated. I have so much steroids in me, that I’ll be awake for a week....lol

I reacted 3 times today so they stopped it. Drs are going to conference about using a different drug. Have to get insurance approval. I’m so frustrated and concerned since I know taxol is the best choice.

I had a severe reaction to the Taxol. Even after they slowed it down, I reacted. I then tried desensitization and it didn't work. The doctors decided to do adriamyacin and cisplatin, though the cisplatin was switched to carboplatin. Adriamyacin is what they used to use before Taxol. The only reason it was switched to Taxol is adriamyacin is more toxic and more people didn't complete treatment due to side effects. I had 7 treatments., skipped number 8. It was rough on blood counts and as it has the potential of causing heart issues, they did an echo before I started it. It wasn't easy, but doable. They still use adriamyacin along with Taxol and carboplatin for breast cancer.

There is another, newer, drug called doxil. That is not used for frontline treatment. Sometimes adriamyacin is called doxil and I was confused when I was looking at other people's stories, so I just wanted to mention it.

My oncologist mentioned another drug that they can use. So much was going on, I can’t remember the name. He is going to consult with other drs and then I have to have my insurance approve the new drug.

Hang in there Whizzer78, they will find the right chemo for you. Each of us is different and thankfully the docs have lots of different drugs to choose from so they will find the right combination for you. xo

It looks like the entire article can no longer be accessed for free but I asked my doctor about it and they were willing to give it a try. I was like you and had reacted two times to it. The third time I ended up with the following:

20mg of dexamethasone (steroid) and 20mg of Pepcid Sunday night at 10pm (36 hrs prior), This was then repeated on Monday at 10pm (24 hrs prior) and Tuesday morning at 4am (6 hrs prior). My chemo was at 10am on Tuesday. I then got another 20mg of dexamethasone, 50 mg of diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and 20 mg of famotidine (Pepcid) before starting the paclitaxel. The first IV of taxol was 2mg diluted in 100ml of saline over 30 minutes, followed by another IV of 10mg of taxol diluted in 100ml of saline delivered over 30 minutes and then I got the remaining taxol in another 100mg of saline that took 3 hours.

I had to be admitted for my taxol and carbo 6 infusions for desensitizing. I had a life theatening reaction to taxol (saw bubbles popping, crushing chest pain, oxygen and blood pressure dropped, heart rate sky high, red eyes and face). It was horrible but fortunately I was able to get through it with the desensitizing.

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